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Survey results determine MSSA's focus

The Minnesota State Student Association discussed the results of its survey
at this week's senate meeting Wednesday.

The survey, which was open
from Sept. 30 to Oct. 15, was completed by 1120 people - eight percent of
the student population.

"Seniors we over-represented in the survey,
while freshmen were under-represented," said MSSA President Ryan Anderson.

Anderson stated that students' level of familiarity with the student
senate wasn't at the level he wanted to see.

"Less people are
familiar with the MSSA than I would've liked, but that's the perpetual
struggle of the student government," he said.

The percentage of
students buying textbooks online has risen in the past few years, from
single digits a couple years ago to about 21 percent now.

"I'm glad
to know that the move to put textbook ISBN numbers online was a good one,"
Anderson said.

Anderson also noted that the general level of school
pride has risen.

"Lots of folks around campus deserve credit for
that," Anderson said.

When it came to a question regarding guns on
campus - specifically, how would allowing licensed students to conceal and
carry guns on campus make students feel nearly three-fourths of students
answered that it would make them feel less safe. Eleven percent of students
said they would feel more safe, while 15 percent were neutral.

"I'm
very pleased with the results of this question," said off-campus senator
Andy Wilke. "I think it should be a federal mandate to not allow guns on
campus."

Minnesota State Colleges and University's present gun policy
states that students aren't allowed to carry guns on campus, but members of
the general public who come on campus are allowed to provided they have the
proper conceal and carry license.

"I think the main focus of the
senate this year should be general education and writing intensive courses
reform," Anderson said.

Thirty two percent of respondents stated that
they believe general education courses weren't valuable, while 31 percent
said they didn't think they were any more challenging than high school
classes.

"If this many students believe general education courses are
a waste of money, that's a concern," Anderson said. "Those numbers should be
close to zero for what we're paying to be here."